SNIPE. 95 



towards the point, and of a dirty eelskin colour at the 

 base, where it is tumid and wrinkled; lores, dusky; 

 cheeks and eyebrows, pale yellowish white, mottled 

 with specks of black ; throat and breast, a reddish buff 

 colour ; sides, white, barred with black ; belly and vent, 

 white, the latter barred with dusky ; crown, neck 

 above, back, scapulars, and tertials, black, edged, 

 mottled, and marbled with yellowish white, pale and 

 bright ferruginous, much in the same manner as the 

 common snipe ; wingSj plain olive, the secondaries, 

 centred and bordered with white; shaft of the first 

 quill, very white ; rump, tail-coverts, and tail (which 

 consists of twelve feathers,) white, thickly spotted with 

 black ; legs and feet, dull yellowish green ; outer toe 

 united to the middle one by a small membrane ; eye, 

 very dark. The female, which is paler on the back, 

 and less ruddy on the breast, has been described by Mr 

 Pennant as a separate species. * 



These birds doubtless breed not far to the northward 

 of the United States, if we may judge from the lateness 

 of the season when they leave us in spring, the largeness 

 of the eggs in the ovaries of the females before they 

 depart, and the short period of time they are absent. 

 Of all our sea-side snipes, it is the most numerous, and 

 the most delicious for the table. From these circum- 

 stances, and the crowded manner in which it flies and 

 settles, it is the most eagerly sought after by our 

 gunners, who send them to market in great numbers. 



SUBGENCS II. SCOLOPAX, VIEILL. 



234. SCOLOPAX BBEHJfll, KACP SCOLOPAX GALLIXAOO, WILS. 



SNIPE. 

 WILSON, PLATE LVI1I. FIG. I. 



THIS bird is well known to our sportsmen ; and, if 

 not the same, has a very near resemblance to the 

 common snipe of Europe. It is usually known by the, 

 * See his Brown Snipe, Arctic Zoology, No. 369. 



